The third day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup saw winds ranging from 7-20 knots as two wind directions hit the Golf-de-Roses over the course of a few hours. Costa Brava was transformed from a starboard tack slalom paradise into a port tack slalom heaven in the same afternoon.

The sea breeze, which is synonymous with Costa Brava enabled a further six heats to be completed. Shortly after three o'clock it looked as though the racing was over for the day, before the local 'Garbi' wind kicked in from the Northeast. Unfortunately it only made a brief appearance, meaning that only a further three heats were completed before the end of the day.

Heat six - the first heat of the day - was eventually completed just after the wind eventually settled down sufficiently to allow suitable racing conditions. Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic) and Sebastian Kördel (Gaastra), both made fantastic starts, and the Frenchman took full advantage of his perfectly timed start to finish the heat in first place ahead of Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde), Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear). The terminator successfully defended off the attack of Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) to book his place in the quarter finals. The remaining two heats of the opening round saw no major upsets as the top seeds made in through unscathed.

Usual Suspects Compete In Quarter-finalsInto the quarter-finals and it was the usual suspects who managed to successfully qualify from heat nine - which saw only seven sailors competing after Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) missed his heat. Meanwhile, heat ten, witnessed a big upset as Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger / AL360) - who finished second yesterday - failed to advance into the semifinals after being made to pay for a poor start. The Italian battled hard to fight back, but agonizingly had to settle for fifth place as Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti), Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) and Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft Sails) all advanced. The last of whom did well to qualify as he overtook Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti) on the exit of the third gybe. The penultimate quarter-final proved to be a chaotic affair after Alexandre Cousin dropped his gybe at the first mark, causing a several sailor pileup.

Fortunately for Andrea Cucchi and Bjorn Dunkerbeck they both managed to miss the carnage and enjoyed an easy passage into the semifinals from there on, whilst Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde) managed to grab the remaining qualifying places. Heat twelve was a very tough heat packed with several big names, but in the end it was Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra), Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) who were able to advance as they ended the hopes of Antoine Questel (Starboard / Loft Sails), Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails). Questel will be left ruing his luck as the first attempt to run heat twelve saw the race cancelled at the fourth gybe mark - when the Frenchman was comfortably leading.

Albeau and Dunkerbeck - Head to Head in the Semi-Finals
The first semifinal was dominated by Patrick Diethelm after the Swiss maestro stormed across the line with a perfect start to lead from start to finish with an accomplished display. Also joining him in the winners' final will be Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) and Finian Maynard, but there was no place in the final for Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) after Cedric Bordes showed good pace and was able to overtake the Italian giant on the final reach, with Menegatti underpowered on his 7.8m.

The final heat of the day - the second semi-final - saw two arch rivals go head-to-head as Antoine Albeau and Bjorn Dunkerbeck battled it out for a place in the winners' final. The two heavy hitters of slalom both made great starts and they played cat and mouse with each other over the duration of the course. Eventually it was Albeau who crossed the finish line first, but Dunkerbeck will be more than happy to have successfully booked his place in the winners' final, after a disastrous first elimination - by his standards. Meanwhile, Britain's Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) put yesterday's error behind him to claim his place in the final, as did Josh Angulo.

Unfortunately the wind dropped just before the conclusion of race two and at 18:15 the call was made to end the day with the deteriorating wind conditions. Tomorrow promises to be an excellent day on the water with the best forecast of the week - on paper - thus far. Tomorrow's skippers' meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am if conditions allow. Join us at www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the incredible action as it happens.

Scope The Action For information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, navigate to www.pwaworldtour.com

Tom Burton (AUS) and Alison Young (GBR) hit the right note in the Laser and Laser Radial at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as they took out the top honours and qualification spots to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final.

It was double Australian gold in the Paralympic classes. Matt Bugg (AUS) came out on top in the 2.4mR whilst London 2012 Paralympic SKUD18 gold medallists Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) were triumphant in the two person keelboat.

Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas came out on top in the Men's RS:X whilst Russia's Stefania Elfutina was triumphant in the Women's RS:X. Both sailors claim the first Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final spots whilst Jock Calvert (AUS) and Joanna Sterling (AUS) picked up the Oceanic spots for the Emirati finale.

There was some fast paced action in the 49er and 49erFX Medal Races at ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne as Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen (AUS) and Maia & Ragna Agerup (NOR) claimed the honours and Abu Dhabi final spots.

A tight group of five young Papua New Guinean (PNG) Laser sailors are stepping up their 2015 Pacific Games competition program using this week's ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne. PNG is one of 33 countries represented at the important Oceanic event, the largest Olympic sailing regatta in the southern hemisphere.

Nicolai Sehested (DEN) and his TREFOR Match Racing Team clinched victory today at the Energa Sopot Match Race, Poland, the 10th stage and World Championship Event of the 2015 World Match Racing Tour (WMRT).

There was no stopping current, and five-time ISAF Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR), GAC Pindar today at the Energa Sopot Match Race as he swiftly dispatched his Quarter Final opponent Joachim Aschenbrenner (DEN) in three straight wins.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) continues to address concerns and is taking steps to ensure the health and safety of all athletes who will be competing in the upcoming Aquece Rio, Olympic Test Event and the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Veteran Polish match racer and America's Cup helmsman Karol Jablonski skilfully played the gusty conditions today to lead the twelve strong field of teams at the end of Day 2 of Qualifying at the 2015 Energa Sopot Match Race.